The Invisible in Industrial Photography. Conversation about the environmental ramifications of progress

The exhibition “Progress as a Promise. Industrial Photography in Divided Germany” shows commissioned photographs in the context of their contemporary use: in the diversely designed print media of the steel, chemical, textile and automobile industries. They signal a consistently positive image of companies and enterprises in East and West Germany. At the same time, the extensive presentation of commissioned photography in the DHM poses the question of what is not shown, what has been made invisible or eliminated from the photos. On the occasion of our tour series “Doppelt belichtet” (Double exposure) Felix Hampel (educational consultant, DHM), Carlo Jordan (former GDR civil rights and environmental activist and politician), and Peter Wensierski (author and journalist from West Germany with publications on the environmental movement in the GDR) met in Berlin to talk about the ramifications of progress for the environment that remain invisible in the commissioned photography.